Rick McDonald is a professor in the IT Specialist program at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Alaska. He holds degrees and certificates from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and University of Illinois Springfield. After several years in the airline industry, he returned to full-time teaching in North Carolina and then in Ketchikan and Fairbanks, Alaska. Previous publication projects include CCNA Companion Guides and technical editing of various certification textbooks. He is currently teaching A+, CCNA, and AWS certification classes in Fairbanks and on the Web.